System and method for facilitating appliance control via a smart device

ABSTRACT

A bridge device, in communication with a smart device, functions to command one or more controllable appliances in response to communications received from the smart device. The bridge device also includes input elements by which the bridge device can be used to directly command common functional operations of the one or more controllable appliances. In this manner, common functional operations, such as volume control, playback pause/resume control, etc., may be made readily available without necessitating the use of the smart device, whilst the more sophisticated GUI provided by the smart device remote control app may be advantageously utilized when more complex or less frequently used command functions are to be performed.

RELATED APPLICATION INFORMATION

This application claims the benefit of and is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 13/071,661, filed on Mar. 25, 2011, the disclosureof which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Personal communication, productivity, and entertainment devices such ascellular phones, PDAs, portable email devices, tablet computers,e-books, hand-held games, portable media players, etc. (all referred tohereafter as “smart devices”) are known to include features such asgraphical user interfaces on color touch screens, Bluetooth and/or WiFicapability, etc. Increasingly, such smart devices also incorporatesupport for ancillary applications (hereafter referred to as “apps”) forexample calendars, email, maps and navigation, etc. Such ancillaryapplications may be pre-installed in a smart device or may be madeavailable for download by a user. Certain apps may comprise an abilityto issue commands to entertainment and other appliances, for example inconjunction with a GUI offering the features and functionality of auniversal remote control, as a user convenience in conjunction with a TVguide display to enable channel selection, etc.

In order to effect such control functionality, it is known in the art toprovision a smart device with hardware and/or firmware suitable for thegeneration of appliance command signals. Provision of such hardwareand/or firmware may be internal, i.e. built into a smart device; may beexternal, i.e., in the form of add-on attachments to a smart device; ormay be discrete, i.e., in the form of a separate self-contained unitwhich receives wireless signals from a smart device and converts them toappropriate appliance command transmissions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to systems and methods for equipping asmart device with appliance command functionality, and in particular tothe provision of a discrete device for receiving and convertingappliance command requests from a smart device, which discrete devicemay also include the ability to directly issue appliance commands inresponse to user input.

It is known in the art to provide a self-contained bridge device,comprising for example a receiver, a processing/translation means, and atransmitter, which bridge device is capable of receiving genericappliance command requests from a smart device via, for example, an RFlink such as Bluetooth or WiFi and translating these command requestsinto appliance-recognizable transmissions, these transmissions usually(but not necessarily) taking the form of infrared (“IR”) encoded signalswhich may emulate a target appliance's original equipment remotecontrol. The availability of such bridge devices greatly facilitates thedeployment of remote control apps for smart devices, since apps intendedfor use in conjunction with bridge devices may then comprise a simplesoftware GUI with no requirement for additional hardware or firmwareinstalled onto or built into the target smart device.

However, the use of smart device apps for appliance control, with orwithout prior art bridge units as described above, may remain less thanoptimal in many environments. Since a smart device, particularly a smartphone, is essentially a personal device, it may not be readily availablefor communal use when several persons are present in the environment tobe controlled, for example a family watching TV in the home.Furthermore, minor equipment adjustments which necessitate repeatedactivation of a smart device remote control app, for example such as mayoccur each time a TV commercial airs and audio volume needs to beadjusted, may constitute a considerable inconvenience to the owner ofthe smart device.

The improvement presented herein addresses these and other shortcomings.An inventive bridge unit provides the RF reception and commandtranslation functionality of prior art units while additionallyaccepting direct control inputs for a limited number of commonly usedappliance command functions. These direct control inputs may take theform of pushbuttons, knobs, touchpads, etc., located on the physicalbridge unit itself, which unit may be designed to be placed in theenvironment at an easily accessible location such as, for example, on acoffee table. In this manner, commonly used adjustments such as volumeor muting, playback pause/resume, etc. may be made readily availablewithout necessitating the use of a smart device, whilst the moresophisticated GUI provided by a smart device remote control app may beadvantageously utilized when more complex or less frequently usedcommand functions are to be performed, and/or where appliance or mediacontrol is a feature of the app, for example when implementingfunctionality such as described in co-pending U.S. patent applicationsSer. No. 12/327,875 “System and Method for Interacting with a ProgramGuide Displayed on a Portable Electronic Device” or Ser. No. 12/761,161“System and Methods for Enhanced Metadata Entry” both of commonownership and both incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

A better understanding of the objects, advantages, features, propertiesand relationships of the invention will be obtained from the followingdetailed description and accompanying drawings which set forthillustrative embodiments and which are indicative of the various ways inwhich the principles of the invention may be employed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the various aspects of the invention,reference may be had to preferred embodiments shown in the attacheddrawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system in which an exemplary bridgedevice in accordance with the instant invention may be used alone and/orin conjunction with a smart device as a controlling device;

FIG. 2 illustrates in block diagram form the major components of theexemplary bridge device of FIGS. 1 and 3;

FIG. 3 further illustrates the exemplary bridge device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary operational flow as may be implementedin one embodiment of the bridge device of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3;

FIG. 5 illustrates a system incorporating an exemplary alternateembodiment of a bridge device in accordance with the instant invention;and

FIG. 6 illustrates a system incorporating a yet further exemplaryalternate embodiment of a bridge device in accordance with the instantinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Turning now to FIG. 1, there is illustrated an exemplary system in whicha smart device, such as a smart phone 102, may be adapted to controlvarious controllable appliances, such as a television 108, a cable settop box combined with a digital video recorder (“DVR”) 114, an AVreceiver 112, and a DVD payer 110. Transmission of commands to theappliances may be facilitated by a combination command input and bridgedevice 100, which when functioning as a bridge device may receivewireless signals 104 from an app resident in smart phone 102 and convertthese to appropriate infrared (“IR”) signals 106 recognizable by thetarget appliances, and when functioning as a command input device mayaccept user mechanical input via one or more knobs or switches andlikewise convert these inputs to appropriate IR signals 106; all tocause the appliances to perform one or more operational functions. Whileillustrated in the context of a television 108, DVR 114, AV receiver112, and DVD player 110 it is to be understood that controllableappliances may include, but need not be limited to, televisions, VCRs,DVRs, DVD players, cable or satellite converter set-top boxes (“STBs”),amplifiers, CD players, game consoles, home lighting, drapery, fans,HVAC systems, thermostats, personal computers, etc. Also, whileillustrated in the context of IR command transmissions, it will beappreciated that in general, command transmissions by bridge device 100may take the form of any convenient IR, RF, hardwired, point-to-point,or networked protocol, as necessary to cause the respective targetappliances to perform the desired operational functions. Further, whilecommunications 104, 106, etc., between exemplary devices are illustratedherein as direct links, it should be appreciated that in many instancessuch communication may take place via a local area network or personalarea network, and as such may involve various intermediary devices suchas routers, access points, etc. Since these items are not necessary foran understanding of the instant invention, they are omitted from theFigures for the sake of clarity.

With reference to FIG. 2, for use in commanding the functionaloperations of one or more appliances, an exemplary bridge device 100 mayinclude, as needed for a particular application, a processor 200 coupledto a ROM memory 208; a RAM memory 210; a non-volatile read/write memory206; user input means 220 such as hard keys, soft keys on a touchsensitive surface, knobs, sliders, etc.; transmission circuit(s) and/ortransceiver circuit(s) 202 (e.g., IR and/or RF) for issuance of commandsto controlled appliances; receiver and/or transceiver circuit(s) 204 forreceipt of command requests, e.g., from a smart phone 102; means 218 toprovide feedback to the user (e.g., one or more LEDs, illuminable keys,display, speaker, and/or the like); an input/output port 216 such as aserial interface, USB port, modem, Zigbee, WiFi , or Bluetoothtransceiver, etc.; a power source 220 such as a battery or a mains poweradapter; and clock and timer logic 212 with associated crystal orresonator 214.

As will be understood by those skilled in the art, some or all of thenon-transient, physically embodied memories 206, 208, 210 may includeexecutable instructions (collectively, the bridge device program memory)that are intended to be executed by the processor 200 to control theoperation of the bridge device 100, as well as data which serves todefine the necessary control protocols and command values for use intransmitting command signals to controllable appliances (collectively,the command data). In this manner, the processor 200 may be programmedto control the various electronic components within the controllingdevice 100, e.g., to monitor the input means 220 and request receiver204, to cause the transmission of appliance command signals, etc. Thenon-volatile read/write memory 206, for example an EEPROM,battery-backed up RAM, FLASH, Smart Card, memory stick, or the like, mayadditionally be provided to store setup data and parameters asnecessary. While the memory 208 is illustrated and described as a ROMmemory, memory 208 can also be comprised of any type of readable media,such as ROM, FLASH, EEPROM, or the like. Preferably, the memories 206and 208 are non-volatile or battery-backed such that data is notrequired to be reloaded after battery changes. In addition, the memories206, 208 and 210 may take the form of a chip, a hard disk, a magneticdisk, an optical disk, and/or the like. Still further, it will beappreciated that some or all of the illustrated memory devices may bephysically combined (for example, a single FLASH memory may be logicallypartitioned into different portions to support the functionality ofmemories 206 and 208 respectively), and/or may be physicallyincorporated within the same IC chip as the microprocessor 200 (a socalled “microcontroller”) and, as such, they are shown separately inFIG. 2 only for the sake of clarity.

To cause the bridge device 100 to perform an action, the bridge device100 may be adapted to be responsive to events, such as a sensed userinteraction with input means 220, receipt of a request from a smartphone 102, etc. In response to an event, appropriate instructions withinthe program memory (hereafter the “bridge device operating program”) maybe executed. For example, when a command request is received from asmart phone 102, the bridge device 100 may retrieve from the commanddata stored in memory 206, 208, 210 a command value and control protocolcorresponding to the requested function and device and transmit thatcommand to an intended target appliance, e.g., TV 108, in a formatrecognizable by that appliance to thereby control one or more functionaloperations of that appliance.

Bridge device 100 may comprise a universal controller, that is a deviceprovisioned with a command data library which encompasses a multiplicityof command codes and protocols suitable for controlling appliances ofvarious different model and manufacture. The library of command data mayrepresent a plurality of controllable appliances of different types andmanufacture, a plurality of controllable appliances of the same type butdifferent manufacture, a plurality of appliances of the same manufacturebut different type or model, etc., or any combination thereof asappropriate for a given embodiment. In all such cases, for selectingsets of command data to be associated with the specific appliances to becontrolled (hereafter referred to as a setup procedure), data may beprovided to the bridge device 100 that serves to identify each intendedtarget appliance by its make, and/or model, and/or type. Such setup dataallows the bridge device 100 to identify the appropriate command dataset within the library of command data that is to be used to transmitrecognizable commands in formats appropriate for such identifiedappliances.

The setup procedure for an illustrative bridge device 100 may compriseany method appropriate for a particular embodiment. For example, a setupprocedure may entail one or more of: manipulating user input means 220such as activating pre-defined combinations of buttons or othercontrols; performing configuration selection using an external systemsuch as a PC or DVR 114 and downloading the resultant setup data tobridge device 100 via, for example, a USB port 216 or wirelessly via aWiFi or Bluetooth transceiver 204; executing a setup app on smart phone102 and wirelessly transferring setup data as above; etc. Additionally,in some embodiments all or part of the required command data library maybe downloaded into bridge device 100 as part of the set up process,originating for example from a local database resident in DVR 114 orsmart phone 102 (i.e., stored in conjunction with a smart phone app), orfrom a remote Internet server based database accessed either directly bybridge device 100 or by using DVR 114 or smart phone 102 as anintermediary. Further, PC, DVR or smart phone based set up applicationprocesses may be local, Web server based, or a combination thereof asappropriate for a particular embodiment. Since systems and methods forsetting up a universal controlling device to command the operation ofspecific home appliances are well-known, these will not be described ingreater detail herein. Nevertheless, for additional informationpertaining to setup procedures, the reader may turn, for example, toU.S. Pat. Nos. 4,959,810, 5,872,562, 7,653,212, or 7,612,685, all ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

As is known in the art, the bridge device operating program may beadapted to monitor wireless receiver circuit 204 for command requestmessages originating from a smart phone 102. Upon receipt of such arequest, the bridge device operating program may retrieve from thecommand data stored in memory a command value and control protocolcorresponding to the requested function and the identified device andmay cause transmitter circuit 202 to output that command in a formatrecognizable by the target appliance. In accordance with the instantinvention, an exemplary bridge device may additionally include means fordirect user input on the device itself and further operating programmingto monitor such input(s) 220 and output appliance commands in responsethereto. With reference now FIG. 3, an illustrative bridge device 100 inaccordance with the instant invention may include on its externalsurface various means for user input comprising buttons 304, 308, atwistable ring 302, and a rotatable wheel 306 which wheel may alsofunction as a button or switch when depressed. In this manner sevendistinct user inputs may be supported: three buttons presses, clockwiseand anticlockwise ring twists, and clockwise and anticlockwise wheelrotations. As will be appreciated, many other configurations of inputmechanisms are possible and accordingly the example presented in FIG. 3is intended to be illustrative and not limiting. As shown, the exemplarybridge device 100 of FIG. 3 may include multiple IR transmittersarranged around the periphery of bridge device 100 so as to radiate IRsignals 106 in multiple different directions, e.g., positioned at 180degree or 90 degree or 45 degree intervals about the device, thusensuring that command transmissions are visible to the targetappliance(s) regardless of the orientation of bridge device 100. In theillustrative embodiment, for aesthetic reasons and/or for mechanicalprotection such transmitters may be positioned behind an IR-transparentlens 310 of tinted polycarbonate or acrylic plastic.

In the illustrative embodiment, the operating program of bridge device100 may comprise two modes for acceptance of direct user interaction: Ina default mode of operation, clockwise and anti-clockwise twists 320,322of outer ring 302 may result in transmission of volume up/down commandsto TV 108, while clockwise and anti-clockwise rotations 324,326 of wheel306 may result in transmission of forward/rewind commands to DVR 114 anddepression 328 a of wheel 306 may result in transmission of a play/pausecommand to DVR 114. In this embodiment, activation of button 304 mayresult in both the transmission of a command to DVR 114 to cause adisplay of program guide information by DVR 114 and setting bridgedevice operating program to a navigation mode, wherein user interactions320 through 328 with ring 302 or wheel 306 may result in transmission ofDVR 114 program guide navigation commands up/down, left/right, andselect. Activation of either the “select” function 328 of wheel 306 orthe “Exit” button 308 may cause transmission of an appropriate commandto DVR 114 together with restoration of the bridge device operatingprogram to the default mode. In this manner, the direct commandscurrently available to a user of the bridge device 100 may beautomatically adapted as appropriate to the operational status of acontrolled device such as DVR 114. In some embodiments the currentoperational mode of bridge device 100 may be indicated the user via, forexample, a user feedback device 218 comprising an illuminabletranslucent ring surrounding wheel 306. It will be appreciated that invarious embodiments such bridge device mode switching functionality maybe supported or supplemented via other means: for example one or more ofthe controlled devices may communicate current system status directly tobridge device 100, e.g., DVR 114 may indicate a current operationalstatus; TV 108 may indicate a currently selected input to bridge device100 to allow automatic selection of DVR 114 or DVD 110 at the targetappliance for play/pause commands; an app loaded in smart phone 102 maysignal a preferred operational mode to a bridge device; etc.

By way of further example, a series of steps which may be performed byan exemplary bridge device operating program is illustrated in FIG. 4.Upon initial power-up, at step 402 the bridge device operating programmay place bridge device 100 into a known initial state, which mayinclude in the example presented setting the initial operational mode toa default value. Thereafter, at steps 404,406 the exemplary bridgedevice operating program may commence scanning receiver 204 and userinput devices 206 (i.e., 302 through 308) for activity. As will beappreciated, in certain embodiments, particularly those in which abridge device power source 222 is battery-based, such input scanning maynot entail active execution of program instructions but may rathercomprise placing microprocessor 200 into a low power state pending awake up interrupt from one or more of these input sources. If userinteraction with any of input devices 302 through 308 is detected, atstep 414 the exemplary bridge device operating program may firstdetermine the current operating mode of the bridge device, i.e.,navigation mode or default mode as described above in connection withFIG. 3. According to this determination, at steps 420 or 422 theappropriate target appliances may be set. For example, as describedearlier in conjunction with FIG. 3 if bridge device 100 is operating indefault mode the target appliance for ring rotations 320,322 may be TV108, while if bridge device 100 is operating in navigation mode thetarget appliance for the same user actions may be DVR 114. As will beappreciated, the exact assignment of appliances to particular modes andto specific user interactions may be configurable and/or dynamic(assigned for example by interaction with appliances themselves todetermine which are currently active) and as such, the assignmentsmentioned herein are by way of example only and not limiting.

Once a target appliance has been determined, at steps 424, 428 and 432the exemplary bridge device operating program may next determine thedesired command (i.e., the action to be performed by the targetappliance), retrieve from command data storage the appropriate commandvalue and control protocol for the selected target appliance, andtransmit the command in a format recognizable by the appliance to becontrolled. Upon completion of these steps, at step 426 the exemplarybridge device operating program may next determine if the commandtransmitted comprised a “Guide” command (i.e. corresponding to button304). If so at step 434 the bridge device operational mode is set to“Navigation”, thus ensuring that subsequent user interactions withinputs 302 through 308 will be directed to the appliance(s) configuredfor this mode of operation. If not, at step 440 it is next determined ifthe command just transmitted was either of “Select” or “Exit” in whichcase, in keeping with the methodology described above in conjunctionwith FIG. 3, at step 438 the bridge device operational mode is returnedto “Default”. Thereafter, processing of the event is complete andreceiver and input scanning is resumed.

If receipt of a transmission by receiver 204 is detected, at step 412the exemplary bridge device operating program may determine if thereceived transmission comprises an appliance control request, forexample from smart phone 102. If so, at step 418 the target appliancetype is set as indicated in the received request, and thereafterprocessing continues at step 424 as described previously. If thereceived transmission is not a control request, at step 410 it is nextdetermined if this comprises a request to alter the bridge device modeof operation (i.e. the response to user interactions with inputs 302through 308). This may occur, for example, in embodiments where anappliance such as DVR 114 may explicitly signal operational state to thebridge device. If it is determined that a request to place the bridgedevice into a specific mode has been received, then appropriate actionmay be taken by the exemplary bridge device operating program at steps426 and 430.

Finally, at step 408 it is determined if the received transmissioncomprises updated bridge device configuration data, such as may forexample have been created via a set up app on smart phone 102, a PC orSTB based configurator, etc. If so, at step 416 the updatedconfiguration data is stored, for example in non-volatile memory 206,whereafter input event scanning resumes at steps 404 and 406.

With reference to FIG. 5, in certain cases a bridge device 100 may nothave a wireless communication protocol in common with smart phone 102,for example and without limitation bridge device 100 may support onlyRF4CE and/or Bluetooth communication while smart phone 102 supports onlyWiFi local communication. In such instances, an intermediary device 500may serve to receive wireless signals 104 a comprising command requestsfrom smart phone 102 and retransmit these command requests in a formatwhich is compatible with a communication protocol supported by bridgedevice 100. As will be appreciated, though illustrated in the form ofwireless transmission 502, in general such retransmission may take anyform appropriate for a particular embodiment of bridge device 100: RF,IR, ultrasonic, hardwired, etc. Also, the functionality of intermediarydevice 500 may reside in a standalone unit provisioned expressly forthis purpose, or may be incorporated in some other item of equipment,for example DVR 114.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, in a yet further embodiment a remote control600 which is capable of two-way communication 602 with a STB or DVR 114via any convenient protocol such as for example RF4CE or XMP may alsoserve as a bridge device when equipped with appropriate programming. Insuch an application, STB or DVR 114 may act as an intermediary device ina similar manner to that described above, receiving command requestsfrom smart phone 102 and relaying these to remote control 600 viatwo-way communication link 602. Programming in remote control 600 mayperform as previously described to translate the received requests intocommand transmissions 106 in a format recognizable by an appliance to becontrolled, for example TV 108. In some embodiments, the remote control600 may be adapted to be placed into a recharging station. Such a remotecontrol 600 may then be limited to serving as a bridge only when theremote control 600 is sensed to be placed into the docking station.Further, the docking station could be provided with the circuitry needto receive signals from an intermediary device with the docking stationthen functioning to relay any signals so received to a docked remotecontrol 600, for example, transmitted via the charging contacts.

While various concepts have been described in detail, it will beappreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications andalternatives to those concepts could be developed in light of theoverall teachings of the disclosure. For example, in an alternateembodiment, a bridge device may be incorporated into some other item ofequipment, for example a smart phone charging base, a portable keyboardor game controller device, a table lamp, etc.

Further, while described in the context of functional modules andillustrated using block diagram format, it is to be understood that,unless otherwise stated to the contrary, one or more of the describedfunctions and/or features may be integrated in a single physical deviceand/or a software module, or one or more functions and/or features maybe implemented in separate physical devices or software modules. It willalso be appreciated that a detailed discussion of the actualimplementation of each module is not necessary for an enablingunderstanding of the invention. Rather, the actual implementation ofsuch modules would be well within the routine skill of an engineer,given the disclosure herein of the attributes, functionality, andinter-relationship of the various functional modules in the system.Therefore, a person skilled in the art, applying ordinary skill, will beable to practice the invention set forth in the claims without undueexperimentation. It will be additionally appreciated that the particularconcepts disclosed are meant to be illustrative only and not limiting asto the scope of the invention which is to be given the full breadth ofthe appended claims and any equivalents thereof.

All patents cited within this document are hereby incorporated byreference in their entirety.

What is claimed is:
 1. A controlling device for use in commandingfunctional operations of a controllable appliance, comprising: aprocessing device; a transmitting device coupled to the processingdevice; and a non-transitory, memory device coupled to the processingdevice; wherein the non-transitory, memory device has stored thereoninstructions which instructions, when executed by the processing device,cause the controlling device to respond to a first received user inputprovided to the controlling device by transmitting, via use of thetransmitting device, a first command to cause the controllable device todisplay in a display associated with the controlled device a menu ofselectable program information and by transitioning the controllingdevice to a navigation mode of operation whereupon the controllingdevice is adapted to receive a second user input for causing thecontrolling device to transmit, via use of the transmitting device, asecond command indicative of a desired interaction with the displayedmenu of selectable program information; wherein the second command isselected from a group consisting of a menu selection element up movementnavigation command, a menu selection element down movement navigationcommand, a menu selection element left movement command, a menuselection element right movement command, and a menu element selectioncommand.
 2. The controlling device as recited in claim 1, wherein theinstructions comprise a remote control application configured on thecontrolling device to communicate commands directly to the controlleddevice via use of a communication protocol recognizable by thecontrolled device.
 3. The controlling device as recited in claim 2,wherein the transmitting device comprises an infrared signaltransmitting device.
 4. The controlling device as recited in claim 2,wherein the transmitting device comprises a radio frequency signaltransmitting device.
 5. The controlling device as recited in claim 1,wherein the instructions, when executed by the processing device, causethe controlling device to transition back to a default mode of operationwhen the second input causes the controlling device to transmit, via useof the transmitting device, the menu element selection command.